POISON
Pairing: Billionaire CEO Wannabe Dancer
Summary: The break appears to be getting to both Seto and Anzu. Just how long will it be before one of them snaps?
Disclaimer: No own Yu-Gi-Oh. Go ahead and sue me if you want, but I don't gots any money.
A/N: Whoop! Another chapter is done! Whoop! Closer to the end! That could only mean………uh…………something else will happen…….? I think? Ano, just read. Hope everyone enjoys it.
CHAPTER NINEThe tall iron gates, blocking entrance to the Kaiba mansion, towered over Anzu, almost double her height. A large K rested in the middle. The moonlight cast shadows away from the brunette, nineteen to be exact. She had counted them more times then she wishes to recall. It was a distraction from what she had planned to do, something small used to waste her time.
Half an hour earlier Anzu had called her parents to report a spur of the moment girls' night out with Mai. She then got a hold of the blonde duelist and asked her to cover, before quickly saying goodbye. She didn't know how good she could lie if Mai had had the chance to ask why.
In the short period of time Anzu's tears had receded to leave her with a pair of puffy red eyes. Her hair was tousled from the amount of times she ran her hands through her hair in nervousness and aggravation. For all she knew Seto could have headed over to Kaiba Corp., be drowning his sorrows at a bar, left the country, or still wandering aimlessly around Domino, let alone returning home. Now that she thought of it all of her pent up stress could be for absolutely nothing.
The roar of a car engine scared the dancer as it floored it past her down the road. She watched its red lights disappear around the corner. Only then did Anzu notice how little protection she had standing out in the open. Placing a trembling hand on the metal she slid between the bars. Her eyes remained on the ground as she walked. If she even looked up at the mansion her courage would fly away with her broken heart. Once she reached the front door she quickly rang the doorbell. Her heartbeat sped up at eh sound of approaching footsteps. Before Anzu had the chance to turn around and run the door opened to Seto's formally dressed butler. With a shove he was pushed aside by Mokuba and left her in the younger Kaiba's care.
"Anzu!" Mokuba cried, before latching his free arm around her waist. "I'm so glad you're here! Something's wrong with Seto and he won't tell me!"
Careful of his arm in the sling she propelled him inside and knelt down to his level. "Doesn't he usually like some time to himself, Mokuba?" Anzu asked, hoping he would break into a smile and tell her she was right.
"Yeah, but he's been like this all week," he protested, "It wears off after a few days, b-b-but it hasn't this time. And he won't talk to me. We share everything with each other, but he…..he…." Mokuba's bottom lip began to tremble. The small burst of emotion brought the dancer close to tears herself, for a second time that night.
"Oh Mokuba," she whispered, wrapping him in a hug, "I assure you there's a reason for it."
"Was it something that happened? And I don't remember?" he asked, pleading with his eyes that she would tell him no. He looked heartbroken that his older brother might be angered to silence because of him.
"None of this is your fault, Mokuba. Do you understand? Seto isn't made because you can't remember what relationship we had. If anything he's happy and relieved that you're okay. And I'm sure he'll be okay too."
The light she was looking for returned to his eyes. "You promise?"
Anzu nodded her head. "Promise."
"Great!" Grabbing her hand he began dragging her down the hall. "Seto's in the library. I'll show you where." Apparently Mokuba didn't remember that she knew her way around the mansion, after spending large amounts of time there. Unwilling to put that frown back on his face she kept her thoughts to herself.
The solid oak doors to the library were closed. For all she knew they could have been locked. Raising her hand she began tracing the carvings. Another distraction to postpone the inevitable.
"Good luck," Mokuba called tearing down the hall before she could stop him.
Well here went nothing. Her hand slowly closed around the door handle, but she didn't turn it. Her courage was depleting at an enormous rate. She couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to confront Seto at a time like this. The worst thing Anzu could do would be to interrupt him. But Mokuba was counting on her. She wouldn't dream of letting him down. Maybe the worst thing she could do would be doing nothing.
Closing her eyes, Anzu opened the door and slipped inside. A relaxing flow of music reached her. Things didn't sound to bad. The dancer slowly opened her eyes to see where it was coming from. None of the lights had been turned on in the library. The curtains for the floor to ceiling windows hadn't been draw, leaving the moon as their only source of light. It cascaded into the room bathing everything in its path. Once Anzu's eyes had focused she spotted Seto sitting in front of his grand piano, in the middle of the library's main floor.
"Seto?" His name came out in a whisper. "Seto?"
Whatever he had been playing ended. Instead of starting another song Seto rested his elbows on the piano keys and slowly began to massage his temples. Anzu could have been blind and deaf and still sensed the tension flowing off of him. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to confront him after all. The decision was made. She wouldn't interrupt him. Taking a step backwards to exit the room she accidentally kicked the door shut. The billionaires head shot up to lock his eyes on her. He had only ever pinned her with that look once in her life. That time at Duelist Kingdom, after he had dueled Yugi. Just like then she couldn't have moved if her life depended on it. The longer the silence stretched the more Anzu began to believe how true that would become.
"Come to hurt a man while he's down, Mazaki?" he scowled.
Anzu started at the sound of his voice. "I…..I came to talk….."
Standing up from the piano bench he began to walk towards her. Now would be a good time to curse her non-existent luck. "You'll have to carry on your conversation alone. I'm sure you know your way out." IF that wasn't an out right dismissal she didn't know what was. He moved to walk past her. Copying his movement the dancer blocked his path.
"I wanted to apologize for Jou's behavior earlier. Today just hasn't been his day." Although her excuse was true it still sounded feeble. Apparently Seto thought so as well.
He sneered down at her. "Feeling up to making pathetic excuses, Mazaki? I highly recommend you keep such thoughts to yourself and learn to curb your nasty habit of involving yourself in affairs that don't concern you."
While talking, Seto had reached for the door handle. Anzu quickly leaned her back against the door, trapping his hand. The CEO's face flashed with indifference. He yanked his hand back like he had been burned. The realization of what he had done made Anzu wince inside. She had to stay strong. She had come with a mission and wasn't going to leave until it was finished. Just take one step at a time.
Ignoring everything Seto had implied about her, she took a deep breath and slowly let it out, relaxing her nerves - Or at least trying to. "I just saw Mokuba. He seems to be doing better. He's just worried you're upset over something he can't remember."
"Again Mazaki. Business that doesn't, nor will ever concern you again."
"I never got to tell you thank you for helping me last Friday."
"Save your breath."
"If only Domino could be able to see that side of you without it being illegal."
"Don't insult me."
"Dammit Kaiba Seto!!" Anzu yelled, balling her hands into fists out of rage. "Can't you see I'm trying?!"
In an acceptance to hear her out Seto folded his arms across his chest and waited. All his attention was focused on her - The undivided and whatnot. A little voice in the back of her mind reminded the brunette to tread softly. The two of them were ticking time booms waiting to go off.
"Maybe we should sit down?" she suggested.
His stance didn't even change. "I'm fine." Liar!
"Well I'm not." She had to stop herself from growling. Taking a few steps to her right, Anzu fell into a deep forest green chair, the wooden legs groaned under the sudden weight. She nervously folded her hands in her lap. "All I want to know is why," she said, "Why did you choose to end it? What made you give up so quickly?" He didn't even turn to face her. "What did I do?" she whispered. "Was it because I wanted to tell my friends about us? There's really no point anymore. You don't have to worry about it."
His eyes narrowed. "What made you think I was worried?"
"Why wouldn't I think that? How many months were we going out? Five! And in that period of time I got to know the real Kaiba Seto. I may not understand everything you do, but I see why you do it," Anzu let out a harsh chuckle, "Up until now that is."
Bitterness crept into Seto's voice. "You're only dragging yourself down if you believe I have a reason, let alone, one I would inform you of."
"No one ever does something without a reason, Seto. All you have to do is tell me and I promise I'll leave. I just don't want to be left in the dark anymore." Please, she begged silently, please tell me why.
The billionaire reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. All the fight he had seemed to drain out of him. He finally looked up at her. The light from the windows shone just right, making Anzu able to see deep bags under his eyes. She had to catch herself from gasping at the sight. Thankfully he failed to notice. What had happened was affecting him as well. Good, her subconscious thought, serves him right.
"I miscalculated what was occurring between us."
Anzu frowned. "Don't talk about me like I'm one of your computers."
His eyes flashed. "I made a mistake, Mazaki!" he growled, "I made a mistake in getting involved with you. My life was fine before you plowed your way in. There never use to be surprises. All you managed to do was complicate matters-"
A loud smack was heard as Anzu jumped up from her chair and slapped Seto across the face, as hard as she could. His head snapped to the right. Whiplash would be nice.
"You bastard!!" she screamed, tears pouring down her cheeks, "Is that all I was to you?! A mistake?! So you thought it was time to get rid of me?!" She raised her hand to add to the CEO's already red cheek. Unfortunately for her he saw it coming and grabbed her wrist at mid swing, holding it with an iron grip.
"I let you get close to me!" he spat in her face, every word coming out sharp, "You weaseled your way in until you began to matter to me! I began to care about you in ways I am unfamiliar with. Everything I began experiencing was worlds' away from what I know. You're the cause of this, Mazaki. You made me care about you, want to protect you, do everything in my power to make you smile, make you laugh, to love you." The last few words came out in a whisper. Her eyes must have widened in shock, causing him to turn his head away from her, ashamed.
Gently, so as not to draw attention, Anzu slid her hand out of his trembling one. Al the pieces started to fall in to place. Everything was finally making sense. He would die before admitting it, but Kaiba Seto was scared. This new emotion of love wasn't something taught in school, no chemical reaction in science. . . . At least not one she had heard of. The only way to learn was through experiencing it first hand.
"Now that you know, Anzu, you can leave." Her heart almost broke a second time at the note of despair in his voice.
Making sure to go slow, the dancer cupped the cheek she hadn't hit in her hand and turned his head to face her. "I'm sorry."
Apparently he wasn't expecting that. "What?"
"I'm sorry I hit you."
"Anzu I-"
"No." A new wave of tears clung to her eyelashes. "Nothing you say or do will make me leave. Unless, of course, it's agreeing to do something about the fact that I am currently lacking in the boyfriend area. I'm looking for someone who's tall, dark, and handsome. You wouldn't by any chance have a business rival who meets the description, or maybe a fellow duelist?"
He never answered her. Instead Seto wrapped his arms around her and held her close. They remained standing in the comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company. Roughly fifteen minutes later the library door opened admitting light from the hallway and a curious Kaiba. Their visitor looked about ready to say something but got sidetracked.
"Whoa! Major de ja vu."
"Is something wrong, Mokuba?" Seto asked.
The young Kaiba shook his head no. "Has this even happened before? Me walking into the library when you were here, Anzu, I mean?" Looking up at Seto, he raised his eyebrow just daring her to answer.
"Umm. . . . . butterscotch ice cream?" she offered.
A forced sigh was heard beside her. "Come on Mokuba. Time for bed."
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REVIEWSthefutureMrs.Kaiba: I couldn't help myself. I've always liked the image of Kaiba playing the piano. He has so many hidden talents. Thank you very, very much.
Bakuras Dark Angel: I'll update as fast as I can.
norestar-angel: Jou always starts it. Just one of his characteristics. But if you think about it Kaiba could have done a lot worse.
Ana and Yami Ana: Your back! cheers I guess it's good that one of you liked it. Keep reading and you'll like it even more. I guaranty it.
essence of light: Someone else gets it! Whoop!
sempaiko: You hate Jou?! 00 He's just being himself. But to tell you the truth, I had that idea in my head before I even began writing this story.
prettyStupidGirl: Good butt kicking, huh? Maybe we should send some Jou fangirls after him. I've got a video camera!
sogs: Try reading the story while listening to a sad song. The tears just flow….. and flow……and flow…….sniff so emotional.
Kineticfairy: jumps up and down Pretty please wave your flag now! I swear they are all better.
Quickening-Heart: I updated, I updated. Just hold on a little longer to see what else happens!
sweetfiregirl: No worries. Even I couldn't stand to leave them apart for too long.
Here4TheParty: So tell me……sneaky grin what did you use the whip cream for?
Shurosama: I hope you wish has been granted.
Inuyasha-xcgirl: Seto's character has to be the hardest part of the entire fic. I didn't what to make he an evil business tycoon but then he really doesn't like being friendly either. Thanx.
TheAlmightyMasterT-Chan: Wow, four reviews at once. Now my only fear is what you'll make me do for them. grumble you and your mind controlling powers. Glad you liked it though. The angst will be leaving soon.
unknown: It's so inspiring to have reviewers like you. thanks.
Kris Bluesummers: That would be exactly why Jou did what he did. It's just like him. But it won't ever happen again. At least not in this fic. As for Anzu, I'd say things are looking up.
Secluded Sapphire: evil grin Yes, even more torture. It's what I live for. Okay, so maybe I live for Bishies, but still…..
teal4m: I don't want the ending to come either, but it's creeping up on me.
TeaFan123: grin You like it! You really, really like it! Many, many thanks!
Anime-AngelWings: Poor Seto? Why don't we go cheer him up?
Insane Lullabies: squeal Cookie!!! It was so worth it. Jou won't be a big fat meanie anymore. You'll just have to read more to see why…
Princess of the Knight: Will do.
lonely-soul-of darkness: For her own good but not his. Not a genius of love that's for sure. Same direction? GrinYou catch on fast.
SportZScooby: The torture is over………for the time being……..snicker Okay, so no more torture. I like happy endings.
sweet-evil-girl: pats on back hope everything is okay now. I can only write so many breakups.
Starian Princess: Things are looking up. This chapter was as dark as I could go. wail And it took forever to get right.
Rune-Spirit: Thank you's! Now to see what the others think.
WinterWing3000: I've been debating on changing it to Drama and I might just take your word for it. As For Anzu smacking some sense into them do you think it worked?
Not A Monkey: I could never kill off any of the characters. I got enough heck for breaking them up.